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Friday, December 6, 2013

Learning can happen in short, quick bits of time - while you workout, while you drive to and from work, while you clean the house, etc. Many great audio podcasts are available and FREE from which you can easily glean new technology resources and tools. I enjoy listening to podcasts with the app, Stitcher Radio for Podcasts.

I enjoy Stitcher, because the podcasts stream instead of taking up space on my mobile device or desktop computer. I, also, do not need to worry about syncing my device to my computer. Once the Stitcher app is downloaded to the device, begin by creating stations based on interests. For example, I created an EdTech Station. Other stations might include politics, spiritual, education, parenting, family, news, etc.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Alphabet Organization allows students to create an alphabet book or alphabet chart including words starting with each letter of the alphabet. Options available are 1) one word and accompanied photo per letter or 2) multiple words per letter. Planning sheets can be found at Read, Write, Think (Sheet 1 and Sheet 2). Read more here.

Trading Cards can be a valuable tool to test comprehension. The app offers several templates including Fictional Person, Real Person, Fictional Place, Real Place, and Object. Students are prompted with guiding questions to complete the trading cards.

Word Mover allows students to create poetry from a supplied word bank. In addition, the app offers the flexibility to add your own words. Read more about the app here or review a "found poetry" lesson plan here.

Read, Write, Think allows users to keep their work separate from other users with a simple login. This feature is unique to other apps and allows for better organization when using shared mobile devices.

Monday, November 4, 2013

If you are WONDERING how to bring curiosity and WONDER into your classroom, home, car, etc., try Wonderopolis! The unique Wonder of the Day is posted both online at wonderopolis.org and in the Wonderopolis app. The daily wonder could be used as a writing prompt as students enter the classroom each day. The site offers a wonder gallery for visual inspiration as well. Students can also contribute to the wonders found on the site and/or vote for their favorite from the contributions. The site asks that students be 13 or older to contribute ideas, so teachers may need to post on behalf of the students.

Monday, October 21, 2013

While at EdCamp Dallas a few weeks ago, I found out about a new app, called Background Eraser and for $.99, it is pretty handy! The app very quickly transforms an image with a background into an image with a transparent background:

To layer the apps, first use a drawing app, such as Doodle Buddy, to create the image.

Depending on the app, look for the sharing options found with the SHARE button. If SAVE TO CAMERA ROLL is not an option, press the HOME and SLEEP/WAKE button simultaneously to take a screenshot. The saved image will save to the camera roll.

Allow the app to use the photos (if applicable) and navigate to the preferred photo. Use the blue arrows to crop the image and tap DONE in the top, right corner. Next, tap ERASER at the top to use the eraser tool and options. When the image is complete, tap DONE at the top and SAVE to save to the camera roll.

Finally, launch a screencasting or whiteboard app, such as Educreations:

Insert the image created earlier with the transparent background. Utilize the app's recording features and animate using the newly-created image by swiping and pinching with your fingers while recording audio.

Monday, September 30, 2013

Infuse Learning is an incredibly powerful and FREE assessment tool for teachers. Either use the spontaneous questions or prepare a quiz, test, or review ahead of time by entering the questions and answers into the online resource. Teachers create an account on the Infuse Learning website, then give students their room ID (provided by Infuse Learning). Students then go to www.infuselearning.com, click Student Login, and enter the room ID. Any computer or device connected to the internet can access Infuse Learning.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Faith students in Mrs. Miller's and Mrs. Jordan's seventh grade Social Studies classes created pic collages last week to present their learning while researching Texas Native Americans. This week, they interacted with the collages to deliver a new, fun and exciting presentation to their teachers and peers:

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

ThingLink is both an online tool and a free app that can make a standard, flat image into an interactive image consisting of music, video, text, images, and web links. See several examples of how other users utilized this great, FREE tool:

The Learning Commons

The Water Cycle

An Excel Screen Labeled**Be sure to upgrade to an Educator's account here to have unlimited uploads**

Continue to double-click the folder icons to navigate to the preferred files

Drag and drop the preferred files to the desired location (for example, the Desktop)

Image Capture can be accessed from the Applications folder and can be used to download pictures or video from an iPad camera roll, iPhone, digital camera or card reader without going through the sync process.

On the mac computer: From APPLICATIONS, launch ITUNESNOTE: If iTunes is not an option, skip to step 6

Select ITUNES > PREFERENCES

Click DEVICES

Place a check mark next to PREVENT IPODS, IPHONES, AND IPADS FROM SYNCING AUTOMATICALLY

Click OK and QUIT iTunes

Connect the device to the computer using the USB cable

From APPLICATIONS, launch IMAGE CAPTURE and connect a device

Use the IMPORT TO drop-down menu to select the desired save location

If applicable, check the DELETE AFTER IMPORT box on the lower left side to remove the photos/video from the device

Select the photo(s)/video(s) to import using one of the following:

Single click the preferred video

Hold down COMMAND while clicking multiple videos

To select multiple videos in order, click on the top video and then click the last video in the group while holding down SHIFT

Click the IMPORT buttonNOTE: Do not use the IMPORT ALL button unless all the pictures/videos are to be imported

SimpleTransfer is an easy way of transferring photos and videos to a computer or other iOS device via WiFi. Cables or extra software are not necessary. First, install the app on the iOS device. After launching the app, the user is prompted with directions to enter an IP address into a web browser on the computer. Instantly, the camera roll from the iOS device appears on the screen! From there, users may click the button to move files from their computer to the device. Alternately, the user may check the preferred picture or video files, and click the button. So easy! Note the limitations of the free version - only the FIRST 50 photos/videos of each album can be transferred and multiple file uploads from the computer to the device is limited.

Friday, September 13, 2013

Last week, Mrs. Klefeker and Mrs. Chapman used the app, 30Hands, to create class slideshows displaying the students' learning of insects. Each student created a drawing or took a picture and recorded themselves reading their learned facts. Some students even brought in an insect they caught or found. The class put each student's slide into a class slide show. The second grade classes presented to the each other in the library on Friday. Mrs. Mitchell, Faith's librarian, and Mrs. Pipes attended the show.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Popplet Lite is a free app for creating mindmaps, graphic organizers, discussing steps to a process, brainstorming with a class, and more. The Lite version of this app allows the saving of only one "popplet"image. Drawn images or those taken from the iPad's camera or camera roll can be inserted into the bubbles (known as "popples" in Popplet Lite). When students finish the popplet, they can either export the saved image to the camera roll or as an email attachment in a jpg file format. For additional features, such as exporting as PDF, collaboration of popplets, or saving an unlimited number of popplet images, the full version is currently available for $4.99.

Popplet.com can also be used from a computer to create diagrams, flow maps, etc. View this video to learn more:

Monday, September 9, 2013

Mrs. King eagerly began the year using the Faith elementary ipad cart with her students. Two weeks ago, they used mobile apps to practice their spelling words. She ended the day with sending the parents a pic collage of the day.